Akira and Manulife Launch Virtual Health Care to Canadian Customers

The companies will work together to increase Canadians’ ability to be proactive about their health, wherever and whenever they need.

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2019 / Akira Health, a Canadian leader in digital health, announced today that it is partnering with leading international financial services group Manulife to increase Canadians’ access to on-demand, virtual medical consults with knowledgeable, friendly clinicians, anytime and anywhere. Having worked closely with Akira, Manulife will now make Akira a recommended virtual care provider to its customers, benefiting millions of Canadians nationally.

Akira will be offered by Manulife to its customers through its new Healthcare Online platform across the country to add virtual care to their benefit plans.

According to a report on absenteeism by the Conference Board of Canada, Canadians miss on average nine days of work each year due to health-related issues; together, Akira and Manulife are working to decrease absenteeism by delivering a healthcare solution that provides employees with 24/7 access to virtual health care providers who can resolve more than half the issues that would typically take them to a doctor’s office. This will help Canadians get well and keep well, leveraging technology to benefit both patients and healthcare providers.

”This new partnership is an incredible opportunity for us to improve Canadians’ access to personalized healthcare in a collaborative way that works well for Manulife and their clients,” said John Mozas, co-founder of Akira. ”We are thrilled to work with Manulife who, like us, is committed to finding solutions that improve our customers’ healthcare outcomes and experience.”

”Manulife is on a mission to make lives better and decisions easier for Canadians,” said Donna Carbell, Head of Group Benefits for Manulife Canada. ”Akira – the first provider in our Healthcare Online solution – provides primary care, which we see as a foundational element of Manulife’s virtual offering.”

”Virtual healthcare is growing at a fast pace in Canada and will soon be the new standard for employers,” said Dan Pawliw, co-founder of Akira. ”We have worked hard to develop this solution and are proud to provide the highest level of service in the virtual healthcare space.”

Akira’s cross-Canada primary care clinicians have successfully completed tens of thousands of virtual medical consultations on the Akira app using secure text and video chat. In addition to providing general health counsel, Akira clinicians can diagnose, write and renew prescriptions, and provide referrals to specialists, labs, and imaging centres. Akira’s services are available to Canadians around the clock and across the country, in both French and English.

About Akira Health
Akira Health is a digital healthcare company focused on creating best-in-class technology to enable exceptional patient care and clinical operations, measured in both experience and outcomes. The Akira app builds upon services offered both in the public healthcare system and through an individual’s health benefits plan, facilitating the innovative delivery of primary care and other patient-centred healthcare services. The Akira app is designed to allow patients to seek care directly through their mobile phone and stay connected, wherever they go, by instantly connecting to doctors and nurse practitioners – safely, securely, when and where they need it. Akira is an easy, convenient way to ask questions, get treated, generate prescriptions, get referrals, and keep well.